Isobel Lorna: How She Sold $300K in 1 Hour, Out-Earning College Degrees, and Why She Wants to Spend Money Loudly

Hot Smart Rich with Maggie Sellers Reum

In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie Sellers Reum interviews influencer Isobel Lorna to discuss her rapid ascent in the creator economy. The

Key takeaways

• Isobel Lorna's brand Agende successfully sold $300,000 in products within a single hour.
• She distinguishes between 'content creators' and 'influencers,' defining influencers as those who impact behavior and buying patterns.

Main topics

• Personal Branding Strategies
• Influencer vs. Content Creator

Notable quotes

You only get lucky if you put yourself in the room to get lucky.

Conclusion

The episode offers a blueprint for creators looking to move beyond tra

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) One of my most frequent hate comments has always been, she has to be an escort. How does she have a Birkin in a house in London? I'm getting fed up. Like, why can't we just earn our money and enjoy it loudly? I loved you from the beginning because I'm like, Speaker 2 (0:12) this girl loves her life. I do, I do. Right. Speaker 1 (0:16) I was always scared of being a full-time influencer. But I set a target at the start of the year to make a million pounds from influencing. And I'm going to go over it. But it's not just all... Fun, fun, fun holiday with my friends in Saint-Tropez private jet. I do have to work for it. And from a young age, I was like, I want to earn money. So I worked hard to leave my corporate job. And when I started filming on TikTok, everything changed from there. Like, I make their salary for the next 30 years in a year. Speaker 2 (0:42) How did you learn to negotiate at numbers that are as large as, like, $25,000 to $45,000? I Speaker 1 (0:50) always say, if you want something, you need to work hard to get it. Nothing's gonna fall on your lap. You only get lucky if you put yourself in the room to get lucky, which takes a lot of hard work. Speaker 2 (1:00) Whether you are a creator or you're just going through a life change, I'm very curious, in the art of the pivot, what are three things that people can do to actually make this a career? The biggest way to stand out is... Speaker 2 (1:14) Hi, angels. Did you know that subscribing to our channel is free? It doesn't cost you anything, and it is the simplest way for you to support Hot Smart Rich and help us grow, so that we can bring you more of the conversations you love. Just hit the subscribe button below, and thank you. In case you missed it, you're allowed to be hot, smart, and rich. So let's get into it. Speaker 2 (1:44) Isabel, Lorna, are you ready to get Hot Smart Rich? I'm so ready. For someone that just clicked into this conversation, they don't know who you are, what would you tell them to get them to stay today? Speaker 1 (1:55) I'm a proud influencer, entrepreneur, and business owner with no marketing qualifications. And if I could describe my mission in like two sentences, I'd probably say I try and encourage girls to want to buy their own Porsche instead of being a Porsche mom where your husband just buys a car for you. I went against the curve to create my dream life and took a lot of risks and I want all of the girls that follow me to aspire to do the same. Speaker 2 (2:22) I decided to start doing this with guests to give a promise to my community if they listen to an episode in full. What will they learn? What will they take away knowing my brand and why I'm inviting people on before they get to know you? And so what I said for you is if people, my angels, listen to this episode in full, they will be able to build a business without a blueprint, Speaker 1 (2:42) make Speaker 2 (2:43) their own money, and never live out of alignment again. Is that a Speaker 1 (2:47) fair promise we can make for them? Correct. And what I say all the time to everyone is, and what my mom said to me from when I was young, is that the world is your oyster and you can do anything. And you don't always need to abide to social norms in order to be able to do something. I'm obsessed with that. So you're Speaker 2 (3:04) somebody that I'm filming with in the UK that I actually am not meeting for the first time or seeing for the first time because you and I started following each other a few months ago, which I don't remember how it happened to you. Speaker 1 (3:15) I messaged you about your daily affirmations. You write the daily affirmations on your story. Yeah, H Speaker 2 (3:22) is our love notes. Speaker 1 (3:23) Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I just replied to one of them and you were like, well, I do it every day, so strap in. And I was like, I love it. I just feel like I loved you from the beginning because Speaker 2 (3:32) you're so unapologetically yourself. And one of the things that was so interesting when I was prepping for this and I was reading the notes is that you said to my team, I am not a creator. I am an influencer. Yeah. Why Speaker 1 (3:44) do you identify as an influencer over a creator? So for me, the word creator, not that there's anything wrong with this, signifies someone that creates content with their iPhone. An influencer is someone that has influence on people's behavior, buying patterns and opinions. So I don't know why, well, I know why, but I don't understand why we keep closing ourselves off as content creators when actually what we're doing and what we're building is influencing people in a positive way. Obviously, some people don't. influence other people in a positive way, but I strive to influence people in a positive way. So why not just say loud and proud, I'm an influencer. And it's my favorite thing to do when I'm at a wedding or an event where I don't know people and they don't know who I am. Oh, hi, nice to meet you. What do you do? And I say, I'm an influencer. And I find it so interesting to see who screws their face up and like goes cold and who asks more questions. And that's a topic we can get into, but. I am, I'm a loud and proud influencer and I never call myself content creator. When someone calls you a content creator, Speaker 2 (4:50) do you correct them? Yeah. Speaker 2 (4:52) So, okay, Isabel, talk to me about what you were like as a child because you seem to be able to do things online and in person that is standing up for yourself and your values. Speaker 1 (5:02) Were you always like that? I was, yeah, and I hated school. I hated being told what to do. I was very polite and obedient, but I always say, like, bend the rules, don't stick to them. And I think I always... wanted to do my own thing and I always wanted to have my own way with morals involved. But yeah, I think I was very headstrong from the beginning. I just didn't know what for. And in the UK, is that very abnormal? I would say so, yeah. So in the UK, you go to secondary school, then you go to sixth form and they tell everyone to go to university. I was like, hmm. I don't really want to go to university and sit in a dorm and like read another book. I want to go and earn money. So when I was 13, my parents said to me, if you want to have a car when you turn 17, you have to buy it yourself. We're not going to pay for it for you. That was like the biggest, the most offensive thing anyone could ever say to me. What do you mean I can't have a car? So I was like, well, if I get a job now, by the time I'm 17, I should be able to buy one. So I got a job in the, like a local pottery studio and I would basically take the pot, wipe the bottom, write the date on it for two hours every Tuesday. Then I did Tuesday and Thursdays and I was earning 12 pounds a week. So 12 times four, God, my maths is terrible. 48, 48 pounds a month. And I put all the money away and then I was like, now I want another job and I want more money. So from literally when I was 13 to 17, I worked in hairdressers, I worked in the local shop. I worked in the local pub. Any local establishment was the running joke was that I had worked there or was working there. And at times I had like three jobs. So in my spare time, I didn't want to go to the playground and go to the rec with the kids. I mean, I did do that as well, but I wanted to earn money. And that's why when I got to... sick form and I was finishing and they were shoving all these uni courses down my throat. I was like, well, I don't want to do that. I want to earn money now. So in the UK, they have something called an apprenticeship. Do you have this in America? No. Okay. So instead of going to university and getting a degree. you start working and then one day a week you'll study towards the degree or the course or whatever you're doing. So I had done work experience in a law firm, my mum got an email about me doing an apprenticeship and I was like I want to go and do an apprenticeship, the law firm's called Burgess Salmon, it's like a big law firm in the UK. I was like I want to do a legal business apprenticeship in a law firm and then I can figure out if I want to do business or law. So I started doing that and then that's when I started filming on TikTok and posting and everything. changed from there. So because I went against what everyone wanted me to do, I ended up being sat here today. And that's why I say to everyone, you don't have to do what everyone else does and you don't have to have qualifications to achieve the dreams you want to do. How Speaker 2 (7:52) did you think about money growing up to be obsessed with it at that young of an age? Speaker 1 (7:57) I think about this a lot and I don't know. I come from a very loving family. I went to state school. My parents were both public servants. They worked very hard. My mum worked all through my childhood. But I think it's just because I was in a small village and I wanted more. Not because I wasn't happy, but because I saw glimmers of like... I guess the outside, the bigger world. And I was like, I don't want to be stuck in the village. I want to be out there in the big world. I want to be in London. I used to get the bus down to London with my mum. And I'd be like, I know I'm going to live here when I'm older, but if I want to live in London, I need more money. So I honestly think it was just for that. Did you have a scarcity mindset towards money? I still do, actually. I find it quite hard. Like if I go and spend a lot of money, I'll feel bad. That was Speaker 2 (8:42) going to be one of my questions for you because I feel like people go one of two ways. They either don't think about it because they think about money as like a way that will be a currency. It will come back or they actually, even if they're spending something, they feel guilty about it. Speaker 1 (8:57) Has that adjusted at all? A little bit. So this is a really good example that I'll give you. I'm going to Saint-Tropez on my annual girls trip next week, which is like no work, just fun. And I left all my outfits to the last minute. So I did a big order online. They all came and I liked all of them. And I was like, God, I'm paying for these myself and I'm not working. And I was like, God, Isabel, let yourself have something that doesn't have something to do with work. So every time I spend money, I try and do it in an investment of some form. I can pass anything off as an investment, handbag, holiday, nice thing, because it's all coming back down to my content and my brand image and who I am. But I do struggle when it's nothing to do with work. I find it really hard. Even if I go to Tesco, there'll be a Tesco-owned olive oil and a posh one, and I'll pick the Tesco-owned because it's got nothing to do with work. Speaker 2 (9:48) I just heard of a really large creator say that women talking about money is tacky. Speaker 1 (9:54) And Speaker 2 (9:54) it really bothered me because I was like, this is keeping your community poor. If you are not actually telling them how you're getting your dream life or how to do it for themselves. Now, having built a career in luxury, a lot of people don't associate luxury with like Speaker 1 (10:09) talking about money. What is your take on that? I think one thing that springs to mind is I went to the Monaco Grand Prix in May and afterwards I saw this Instagram post and it was like, new money goes to the Monaco F1, old money goes to the south of France Hills and doesn't... watch the F1 and doesn't post any content. And I remember looking at it and thinking, why can't everyone just earn their money and spend it however the fuck they want? And why do girls, especially every time they want to do something nice or they want to earn their own money, why is it always, like you said, called tacky? And I think that post, I put it on my story and I had so many people respond like, I'm getting fed up. I'm getting fed up. Like, why can't we just earn our money and enjoy it? loudly. Why do I have to be quiet about buying a Birkin? Why do I have to be quiet about buying a house? Like that's one of my most frequent comments, especially when I buy something is, why do you have to show everyone? Why the fuck not? Because I know there's probably a 15 year old girl watching thinking, oh, maybe one day when I'm 25, I'll be able to buy a house in London. So if you don't share it, people can't see it. They can't be inspired. And that's why I like using the word influencer because we're influencing, especially in a positive way. Speaker 2 (11:22) I think you do that so well. And I think that that's what I really wanted to get into today because I believe that the content creator economy has the ability to really level the playing field. Like there are no gatekeepers. There are no archaic industries that we have to go and spend 20 years in a career to finally be able to like do the things that are going to bring us what we actually want in our lives. So let's talk a little bit about money, the power of social media, everything that comes with that. It is reported that creators with 250 to a million followers can make between $20,000 to $45,000 for a sponsored Instagram post, according to business.com. Do you believe that that is the ceiling or the floor for a luxury creator? The floor. Speaker 2 (12:06) Where are we going with this? How did you learn your value to negotiate at numbers that are as large as like $25,000 to $45 Speaker 1 (12:15) ,000? So I rarely work on like one-off videos now. It needs to be like three videos, one every two months, one a month. And then if you're actually using it and showing that you're using it, of course people are going to start believing you that it works. And if you're showing them results and you install more trust in your audience. Have you seen all of my videos on creator Speaker 2 (12:34) equity and like this exact thing that we are moving towards an equity model? Because this is, it's a long-term relationship. And to your point, it's like even the cash part of it still feels a little transactional. When you have equity and ownership into a brand, you genuinely have mutually aligned interests. Have brands started coming to you wanting to give you equity in their brands in exchange for what you do so well? Speaker 1 (12:57) I have had a few more recently on the influencing side. I've had more on my marketing agency side, which I've actually shrunk recently. So I'm not running my marketing agency anymore. I counted the other day, I had 14 equity offers for the marketing side. So purely like people using my brain, people wanting to tap into my marketing brain. How are we going to do our content? How are we going to run our socials? I turned all of them down apart from one. And that was... The founder of Celia, I've co-founded an intimate beauty brand with her. So I've basically cancelled out the agency and I'm just doing that with her because I've got equity in it. I think the UK is a bit behind on the equity model. I want more of it to come over, but I think we're just a bit behind. So you just decided to shut down your agency. And Speaker 2 (13:46) this is what you started when you also started being a content creator. So how long were you doing the two of those jobs and two Speaker 1 (13:52) of those different businesses? So this is really interesting because I was always scared of being a full-time influencer. So the agency was kind of like a backup. So at first it was great because I was obviously making videos walking around a corporate office, motivating people to get up and work, being in a corporate outfit, being in a big shiny office, getting my coffee every morning. And I knew if I stopped going into work, if I quit the job, where's the content? Why do I have 600,000 followers and I quit the job? Where are they gonna go? What am I gonna do? Just film hair videos and skincare videos all day? I was like, I need to replace the office with something else. And because I knew, basically the only thing I knew I was good at. was making videos for social media and coming up with creative, crazy ideas. So I was like, if I quit the job, I'll replace it with launching my own business, which was a social marketing agency. This was four years ago when no one else had a social marketing agency in London and no one knew how to make TikToks. Now everyone knows how to make TikToks and there's thousands of amazing content creators in London that can make videos for your brand. But that was my way of kind of like weighing up because I thought the influencing was a backup. And actually, I should have dissolved the marketing agency one or two years ago because I've actually figured out that it's kind of stinted my growth on the influencing side because I was putting 50 % of my energy into the agency, 50 % into influencing.